Work & commute · Rural

Work & commute in Rural, KS

Most working residents leave Rural for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Lawrence (19%), Topeka (12%) and Oskaloosa (8%). Half commute less than 20 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

2 of 330 working residents

Typical commute

20 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

35 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 328 Rural residents head out of town to work, 2 work right here, and 48 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Rural.

328live here, work elsewhere

2live and work here

48work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Rural goes to work

Lawrence8.8 mi away

19%62

Topeka20.7 mi away

12%38

Oskaloosa9.3 mi away

8%28

Kansas City30.9 mi away

6%20

Leavenworth26.8 mi away

5%15

Olathe30 mi away

4%13

Overland Park36.1 mi away

4%12

Kansas City, MO41.2 mi away

4%12

Lenexa28.6 mi away

3%9

Lecompton5 mi away

2%7

Everywhere elseother towns and states

35%114

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Rural commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

29%

30%

33%

29%Under 10 mi

30%10–24 mi

33%25–50 mi

7%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Rural is a commuter town

0.15jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.15 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Rural are

50 jobs are based in Rural. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Rural’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Rural

50 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities8%

Services (health, schools, offices…)78%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month62%

Jobs Rural residents hold

330 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month59%

+355%

Jobs based in Rural, 2013 → 2023: 11 → 50. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.